Album of Lady Bug Canyon Creek Field Trip

Selected photos (by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer) from our 18 May 2011 spider collecting trip to the creek draining Lady Bug Canyon near Wenas Reservoir, Yakima County, Washington (and another site up the North Fork of Wenas Creek). Although spiders were a bit sparse, the fauna was very diverse and we improved an old 13-species sample to 38 species, including several that were uncommon or novel. Contrary to forecast, the weather was very pleasant, the habitats were beautiful, and collecting also benefited by participation of the elusive Jerry Austin. (But none of us saw a single "lady bug.") See here for Laurel's account of the second stop.
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2008 aerial photo mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington looking up from mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Lady Bug Canyon site from above    (Yakima County, 2008) Looking up Lady Bug Canyon                © Laurel Ramseyer
Jerry Austin at mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington gate at mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Jerry prepares to head up the road     © Rod Crawford The gate that stopped us (but needn't have)               © Rod Crawford
Laurel Ramseyer sweeping at mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington crab spider Thanatus coloradensis from mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Laurel sweeping among the sunflowers     © Rod Crawford Beautiful Thanatus coloradensis             © Rod Crawford
riparian Lomatium sp., mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington sagebrush Artemisia tridentata, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Lomatium was common near the creek    © Rod Crawford Sagebrush, usually a good spider habitat                 © Rod Crawford
juvenile crab spider Musumena vatia on wild rose, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington mud-puddling butterflies, Plebejus icarioides & Glaucopsyche piasus, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
The one Misumena vatia taken waits for roses to bloom
© Laurel Ramseyer		 Mud-puddle neighbors, Icaricia icarioides & Glaucopsyche piasus
© Laurel Ramseyer
Balsamorhiza plant, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington hillside with many Balsamorhiza, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Balsamorhiza flowers…             © Rod Crawford …were not in short supply!             © Rod Crawford
juvenile crab spider Misumenops sp. on Balsamorhiza petal, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington stony spider habitat, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Juvenile Misumenops dwarfed by big petal     © Laurel Ramseyer Stone-piles were the day's richest spider habitat           © Rod Crawford
riparian grass clump, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington view down valley from mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Riparian grass clump            © Rod Crawford Pretty clouds down the valley              © Rod Crawford
farmhouse overlooks the mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington aspen grove, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Farmhouse overlooks the valley         © Rod Crawford Aspen grove yielded some litter spiders                 © Rod Crawford
riparian meadow, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington orbweaver Hypsosinga male, mouth of Lady Bug Canyon, Yakima County, Washington
Riparian meadow & creek       © Laurel Ramseyer Jerry caught this male Hypsosinga               © Rod Crawford
ponderosa pine trunk, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington
Ponderosa pine trunk at our second site    © Rod Crawford At Moloy Road we were limited to the right-of-way       © Rod Crawford
ponderosa pine cone, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington ponderosa pine cones, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington
Pine cone, Laurel's favorite habitat      © Laurel Ramseyer The cones were thick on the ground          © Laurel Ramseyer
Laurel Ramseyer sampling spiders from pine cones, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington riparian pasture meadow, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington
Laurel sampled 111 cones for spiders     © Rod Crawford Nice-looking meadow was off-limits          © Rod Crawford
Jerry Austin walks down Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington North Fork Wenas Creek at Moloy Road, Yakima County, Washington
Jerry looking for something to sweep       © Rod Crawford Barbed wire fails to keep the creek out             © Rod Crawford
roadside lupine clump, Moloy Road at N Fork Wenas Creek, Yakima County, Washington post-sunset dusk along Interstate 90 W of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Roadside lupine clump          © Rod Crawford Dusk greeted us on the last leg of our trip home           © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 11 June, 2015